Cigarette firm pays $300k to NSW firies

Cigarette company Phillip Morris has agreed to donate $300,000 to the NSW Rural Fire Service after it was found to have sold cigarettes that didn't meet fire safety standards.

According to the consumer watchdog, two cigarette firms, Zen Sensation and Phillip Morris, supplied cigarettes in Australia that did not self extinguish when left unattended as required by law.

In 2015, Phillip Morris supplied more than 300,000 of the dodgy cigarettes to the Australian market. Zen Sensations were unsure how many non-compliant cigarettes it had sold but the company supplied a total of 24.5 million cigarettes possibly connected to a similar issue between 2013 and 2015.

Both issued recalls following the discovery of the issue.

"Before the Reduced Fire Risk Standard was adopted, discarded cigarettes and related products started over 4500 fires and killed an average of 14 people each year," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said on Thursday.

Manufacturers and importers need to have stringent controls in place to ensure their products protect consumers by meeting safety standards, Mr Sims says.